


Yearbook

by Kage_Nightray



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Rule 63, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-11
Updated: 2014-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-16 23:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2287946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kage_Nightray/pseuds/Kage_Nightray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The beginning of the school year has come and gone, but no one has seen Briar yet. Does anyone know what happened to her?</p>
<p>Inspired by a prompt from the kink meme, though I deviated from it quite a bit and skipped one of the main points:<br/>http://hobbit-kink.livejournal.com/8478.html?thread=18163230#t18163230</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yearbook

The school year had started without any problems, and a few days in, Fili and Kili were waiting at their usual lunch spot - on the roof - for their friends to show up. Fili was lightly dozing while Kili stared at the sky, her mind wandering from topic to topic, never lingering on any thought for long.

As Ori, Nori, and Bofur finally found their way to the roof, Kili bolted upright, looking confused and slightly alarmed.

“Has anyone seen Briar yet?” she asked, looking at her friends. They exchanged confused looks, but ultimately all shook their heads.

“I don’t think anyone’s seen ‘er yet this year,” Bofur commented

“Not even any of your teacher friends. She hasn’t been on any attendance lists that I’ve seen either,” Nori added.

This statement grabbed Fili’s attention. “Not even Balin’s? He was supposed to have Briar in his AP Chem class this year.”

“I know she’s not enrolled in that class, I’m Mister Balin’s TA that period,” Ori replied quietly.

Kili ran off from the roof. The others stared at her for a moment before chasing after her. They caught up just as she burst into Balin’s classroom.

“Balin!”

“Hush, lass! I’m teaching right now. Go bother someone else if you have nothing better to do with your lunch period.”

“But we have to talk to you!” Kili whined.

“Go bother your uncle, whatever it is you can either ask him or wait until after school!”

With that, Balin turned back to the whiteboard and continued his lesson, ignoring the group that had just interrupted his class. Fili herded them all back outside.

“Kili, how did you forget which lunch he had?”

Kili grinned sheepishly. “I didn’t actually think at all, really. Just went straight there.”

Fili sighed banging his head against the wall as their friends laughed at them.

“Well, what should we do now? There’s not enough time left to get to your uncle’s classroom before lunch ends,” Ori said after consulting his watch.

The group all thought about this for a moment.

“Well, we should probably just wait until after school when Balin will let us back in. It won’t hurt anything to wait a few hours before starting our investigation,” Fili decided as the bell rang.

“So, we’re just meeting back here once school gets out?”

“Yup, pretty much. I’ve gotta go to class now. See ya!”

The group dispersed as they all ran off to their next class.

***

Kili had trouble concentrating through her last few classes. She thought back, trying to remember the last time she had seen Briar, but couldn’t figure out when that was. Sure, she had an assortment of memories of time spent with Briar the previous year, but she couldn’t place a specific time on any of them.

***

Within minutes of the school day’s end, Fili, Kili, Bofur, Ori, and Nori were all gathered inside Balin’s classroom.

“Balin, do you know what happened to Briar? None of us have seen her yet this year. Is she okay?” Kili asked, giving voice to the concern that had been plaguing her since lunch.

Balin frowned. “Briar… Baggins? Yes, I had thought that odd myself, as she was supposed to be in my AP Chemistry class. You may remember, towards the end of last school year, she stopped coming to school?” He hesitated before continuing. “This is not something I am supposed to tell you lot. I’m only telling you because I can see how worried you are about her, and you are not to go spreading this around. Understood?”

After receiving nods of affirmation from all five of them, he continued. “Her parents died in a fire last year, at one of their vacation homes. Briar was the only one to survive. To my understanding, she was sent to live with one of her father’s brothers, who, sometime over the summer, withdrew her from this school. She doesn’t go here anymore, so it is unlikely you will be seeing her again.”

The teens were devastated. “But why didn’t she tell any of us she was leaving? We could have at least thrown her a good-bye party, and exchanged phone numbers… anything!” Kili exploded, looking furious and confused.

“Do you at least know where she moved to, Balin?” Fili asked, sounding more calm than his sister.

“I’m afraid not, lad. I wish I had better news for you. I’m sorry.”

***

The group sat outside Balin’s classroom, looking dejected. Kili clung to Fili, looking like she was about to cry. Ori fiddled with the edge of his mittens, while Nori and Bofur stared off in the distance, looking lost.

“I still don’t understand why she didn’t tell us she was leaving. I mean, we’re her friends, right?” Kili whimpered softly.

“She probably didn’t think we would care,” Nori replied in a dead tone.

“Of course we would care! We’re her friends!” Kili snapped defensively.

“But did she know? Did she have any reason to believe that we would even notice she was gone? Think about last year, she was gone all the time, and none of us, except Bofur, ever asked why she was gone or said anything to let her know that we noticed she was gone or that we missed her or anything! Why would she think we’d notice when she stopped showing up at school altogether, huh?” Nori shouted back.

“But… of course we care. She’s our little Briar that needs us to protect her from the world. She knew that, right?”

“Obviously, she didn’t. What are you going to do about it?”

***

The next couple weeks were spent asking around, trying to find Briar’s other friends, as Kili was convinced that if Briar didn’t think that they would care, she must have had other friends that she believed would. However, after talking to everyone in their classes and everyone that they knew shared a class with Briar in previous years, they found that no even remembered Briar, let alone knew where to find her.

Some of her teachers remembered her, but that was it. From talking to said teachers, the group learned that before they had invited Briar to start having lunch with them, she had spent her lunches in their classrooms, quietly working.

***

As the group sat in Thorin’s classroom, trying to puzzle out what all this meant, they were startled by the door slamming open. Turning to look, they saw a five-foot-nothing freshman girl carrying a pink umbrella standing there, glaring at them.

“I hear you lot are looking for Briar. Is that right?” she demanded, pointing her umbrella at them.

“Er… yes? Why, do you know her?” Kili asked, looking bewildered.

“Why are you looking for her? Are you out for her inheritance too? Because I won’t have any more people trying to take from her!”

“What are you talking about?” Fili asked, looking distressed. “We just want to know what happened to her, because we wanted to get to know her better. We want to be better friends with her.

The girl’s glare softened into a look of almost sympathy. With a sigh, she sat down at the table next to them, looking far older than any freshman should ever appear. “What do you know? I can fill you in on anything else.”

“We know that her parents died near the end of last school year, but that’s about it.”

The girl laughed bitterly. “Yes, her parents died in that fire, and it would have been better that she had died with them.”

The group gaped at her, unable to comprehend how anyone could say such a thing.

“When Briar’s parents died, one of their cousins took her in. Why those horrible creatures got custody of her, I’ll never know. Anyway, all they wanted was her money, because Longo had basically gambled away their family fortune. Problem is, only way they could do that before she turns 18 and got the money for herself, is if they married her off and the spouse gave them permission to take her money. So, they basically married her off to the highest bidder, and she’s been locked away in that creep Smaug’s mansion ever since.

“Briar’s lost everything. She lost her parents, her home, her hopes and dreams for the future. And if that isn’t bad enough, they’re using me as a pawn to make sure she does as they say. If she does anything that they don’t want her to, I get pulled out of school and married off to Lotho. Which’ll happen eventually anyway, but they said if she behaves, they might even let me go to college.

“Now that you know what sorta situation she’s in, what are you going to do about it?” she finished, staring directly at each of them in turn.

“Can you… take us to visit her? We’ve missed her a lot, and… we just want to see her, make sure she’s okay, let her know how much we miss her. Please?” Kili begged her eyes filling with tears.

The girl stared at Kili,  judging her. “I’m not taking any boys to see her. Smaug wouldn’t let them in, and might not even let me in to see her. Understood?” the girl snapped. Kili frantically nodded in reply..

“Good. I’ll meet you here after school on Friday, one of you’ll be driving. Dress up nice, something that shows off your femininity without being revealing would be best. See you then.”

The girl spun around and stalked back out of the classroom, twirling her umbrella as she went. In the doorway,  she paused, and turned back around for a moment. “By the way, my name is Lobelia. Just in case you were wondering.”

As the door slammed shut behind Lobelia, Nori banged her head against the desk.

“I don’t even own a dress, I hate dresses,” she moaned in despair.

Ori squeezed his sister’s hand sympathetically. “At least you don’t mind wearing dresses that much. I’ve never worn girl clothes in my life! But we’ll do it anyway. For Briar.”

***

Two days and one awkward shopping trip later, Kili Ori, and Nori were standing outside Thorin’s classroom, waiting anxiously for Lobelia’s arrival. Nori and Ori looked very uncomfortable in their dresses. Lobelia arrived five minutes after the last class got out.

“So, which of you is driving?” she asked as she led the way to the parking lot.

***

“Briar! Where are you?” Lobelia shouted as she entered the house, the others following close behind.

“In the garden!” came the shouted reply.

“As you know, it’s my birthday, so I brought a surprise for you,” Lobelia said as she stepped out into the garden with Kili, Ori, and Nori  behind her.

Briar was sitting in a chair with a book in her lap with her back to her guests. “Oh, really? I hope it isn’t more chocolate, you know they give me migraines,” Briar replied, sounding amused as she finally turning around to face Lobelia.

When she and the Durins saw each other for the first time in months, time stood still for a moment as they stared at each other. The Durins were shocked to see the burn scars marring the left half of her face and down her left arm. Briar, meanwhile, could not believe that her friends were there, that they had cared enough to come and see her. The illusion of frozen time shattered as Kili ran to hug Briar tightly around the waist.

“We missed you so much! Why didn’t you tell us you were leaving? We would have come visit earlier! We were really worried about you!” Kili’s shoulders were shaking as she clung to Briar, sobbing out demands and apologies. Briar’s maternal instincts took over as she tried to calm Kili down.

***

Nori let her brother and Kili chat with Briar first, staying behind in the shadows as they told Briar about anything and everything that had happened over the summer and during the past few weeks. After an hour or two, Kili and Ori fell asleep, exhausted by the excitement of the day.

“She was upset over you not telling us, and was very worried that you didn’t think we’d care,” Nori murmured as she sat down by Briar, careful not to disturb Kili or Ori, who were both curled protectively around Briar. “We were all worried, particularly when Lobelia told us that you had been married off.”

Briar’s hand stilled in the middle stroking Kili’s hair, causing the younger girl to whine, subconsciously wanting the comfort back. “Lobelia told you about that?”

Nori nodded, her eyes showing her concern. “Are you okay with all this? I know you had wanted to go to college and open a bakery someday.”

Briar sighed, closing her eyes for a minute. “It doesn’t really matter that much what I had planned to do, now does it? I don’t have that freedom anymore. I am expected to stay here, look pretty, and provide heirs for my husband. It’s stupid and old-fashioned, but the choice does not exist for me anymore. If I try to do anything different, Lobelia loses her freedom. I’m completely trapped. If I try to take back my freedom, Lobelia pays the price. I couldn’t do that to her; she’s too wild and free a spirit to be trapped in this life.” A wistful sigh. “At least she’ll have Bag End.”

“Isn’t there any way you can get out of this? That we can get you out of this?”

***

Lobelia watched Briar chat with Nori, observing how much happier her friend looked when surrounded by these people. That made up her mind; she would free her Briar from the burden of Lobelia’s fate.

***

By Monday, Lobelia had disappeared without a trace.

Tuesday, Nori found an email in her inbox from the missing girl.

_I am out of the picture now. Take care of her for me. Visit her after school as often as you can, but leave before her husband gets home. I’m trusting you to find a way to get her out of there and get her stuff back. Do not disappoint me._

At the bottom of the email was the contact information for one Gandalf Grayhame; Nori didn’t recognize the name, nor was she sure why Lobelia had sent this. She idly wondered why Lobelia had picked her to send this message to, but did not linger on the thought. She had work to do.

***

A couple weeks later found Briar lying on the roof of the school, waiting for her friends to show up for lunch. Lobelia’s disappearance had set off a chain of events that Briar could not have possibly anticipated.

_She sat in her garden, staring blankly at the woods surrounding her new home. A book lay abandoned in her lap. Getting to see her friends from school was nice, but now, nearly a week later,  she was once again alone, still stuck in the isolation of Smaug’s mansion, subject to her husband’s whims. She looked up as another person entered her  garden._

_“Mrs. Bracegirdle, what are  you doing here?” she asked, staring at Lobelia’s mother in surprise._

_The older  woman looked at her sadly. “Lass, do you know where Lobelia is?”_

_Briar shook her head._

_“I didn’t think so. That exactly why I came here though. You should pack up your things, you won’t be living here anymore.”_

_“Really? But… what about Smaug?”_

_“The marriage contract between the two of you is void, you are not married anymore. Now hurry up, we haven’t got all day!”_

_Grinning madly, Briar ran back in the house and up the stairs to grab the few personal belongings she had brought with her. Anything Smaug had given her, she left behind; she wanted nothing more than to forget this dreadful nightmare of a marriage. She was so happy to leave, it never occurred to her to ask why the marriage contract was suddenly void._

_The drive away from the mansion was silent and long, but Briar didn’t notice. She was too busy trying to reimagine her dreams for the future, the dreams she had given up on._

_Instead of taking her back to Uncle Longo, Mrs. Bracegirdle brought her back to Bag End, where a familiar figure clothed in a long, ash-grey trenchcoat._

_“Gandalf!” Briar ran out of the car to embrace her mother’s old friend; she hadn’t seen him in years. “What are you doing here?”_

_Gandalf smiled sadly. “You were never supposed to go to your uncle's. In you parents' will, they listed me as your guardian, if anything should happen to them. I was not aware of your parents’ passing until earlier this week, when one of your friends contacted me on your behalf. I believe her name was Nori?”_

The combined efforts of Lobelia and Nori had taken her out of a forced marriage, and kept her from returning to adults who had planned to just auction her off again. She was living back in Bag End, she was back at school, and all was well in her world.

**Author's Note:**

> As I said in the summary, this really doesn't follow the prompt that closely, so unless someone thinks otherwise, I will not be posting this as a fill for that prompt.


End file.
